A Young Hermione
by Colleen 8-O
Summary: 11-year-old Hermione is in grade 5, and longs for something she has never had.


_**A Young Hermione**_

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_BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!_ Hermione Granger's alarm clock went off for ten minutes before she realized that she had to get up. That meant that she awoke ten minutes later that the usual on a Tuesday morning. Hermione would be late for school, _again. _She quickly dressed in a crisp white blouse with jeans, and then walked to the bathroom to brush her teeth, after all, her parents _were_ both dentists. She looked in the mirror, and immediately felt discouraged. Her hair was everywhere. It looked dull from lack of oil distribution; it was hard for natural oil to spread through Hermione's long, thick, mane of hair. It bushed out everywhere, and it wasn't pretty. Hermione, seeing this mess, grabbed her hairbrush instead of her toothbrush, and began to work her way through the huge masses of tangles coming from her head. The more she brushed, instead of her hair getting flatter, it got even more bushy, if that's possible. Hermione realized this and gave up. She was running out of time anyway. She threw her hair in a ponytail, and vigorously brushed her teeth. By the time she was done, her parents were at work. They left her a note that read:

-_Hermione_

_You were sleeping late, and we couldn't bear to wake you, you just looked so tired. Don't be reading all night on weekdays! We couldn't drive you to school today. If we did, we probably would be late for work for the 3__rd__ time, and it could cause us to get fired, we've already had a few warnings. We hope you understand. Walk to school today. Your mother will take you out after school to the library as a treat. If you need anything, you know the number. _

_-Your loving parents_

After reading the note, Hermione sighed, slipped on her shoes, and ran out the door. Even though she knew she would be late for her 5th grade class, she still had hope. After all, her mother was going to take her to the library! Books have always fascinated Hermione. Why be here when you could be a princess, traveling far away, saving her kingdom from the evil dragon. Hermione usually learned a lot from the books she read. Hermione loved to learn, and was the brightest child at in her grade. Her parents were proud to have such a brilliant daughter.

After running four blocks to school, Hermione rushed in the classroom, her hair like a haystack, clutching a late slip in her left hand, and a bag lunch in her right. Her teacher, Ms. Ravacivia, smiled a great toothy smile at Hermione, then took the late slip from Hermione's hand, and said "Pleasure to have you here today, Hermione."

Hermione was generally very polite to teachers, unless they made a mistake, or said something that Hermione didn't agree with, so she replied sweetly with the last breath she had.

Hermione sat down in class, and took neat notes of every word Ms. Ravacivia said. Hermione enjoyed the time of learning. Her notebooks were filled with statistics and information. Hermione had almost forgotten that there was a test on Thursday, so she spent Free Time, before lunch, going over her notes.

At lunch, Hermione took her lunch bag, grabbed a carton of milk, and sat down at an empty table. She took out her sandwich, and bit into it, eating without really tasting. Hermione looked at the table across from the one she was seated at longingly. The girls were laughing, eating and smiling. Hermione envied them. She wanted what she never had; friends her age. She always felt like she was missing something. But you can't miss something you never had, right? Wrong. Her best friends were her Mum and Dad. Hermione thought about this. She wondered why she didn't have friends. Hermione knew she hadn't done anything wrong; she was always polite, never mean, always friendly and willing to help. It was as if she was different from them, an outsider. Sometimes Hermione wondered if she saw the same things through her eyes as everybody else. She thought that maybe there was a glitch in her brain, something that made her seem totally out of it. Hermione usually curled up with a book in her lap 

to get away from this world of sadness, to be somewhere else, and to try to get everything off her mind. It always succeeded.

_Brrrring! _Recess time. What a drag. Hermione naturally hated recess, the teachers didn't let her bring a book to read, and the boys teased her. They had various nicknames for her. She was the "suck-up" and the "teacher's pet." They had also made fun of her for her name. She hated it when people called her "Hermy." They even made fun of her hair; as if it was her fault it was bushy. It was a good thing that each recess only lasted 15 minutes, and usually Hermione would hide in a tunnel slide, after all, those were "uncool" for 5th graders, therefore the boys could rarely pick on her. Hermione was at least grateful the school year was finally almost done. She couldn't wait for the holidays, vacationing with her parents. This summer, Hermione and her family, including her grandmother Lucille Granger, were vacationing to visit various beaches. Hermione liked beaches; at least she liked the way they were described in the books she read. She imagined herself at the beach, wearing her new bathing suit, lying on a towel under an umbrella, smelling the ocean while reading a book, and sipping a delicious drink. Hermione smiled to herself, trapped in her summer thoughts.

As Hermione dreamed of being on vacation, time sped by. Before she knew it, it was July, and Hermione and the Grangers were on the airplane, off to sunny beaches for two weeks, two weeks that passed by quicker than you can say "_Bopitybopbopbob." _She arrived home on July 19th, realizing how much she missed her house. Home. Hermione recalled an American saying –"there is no place like home," realizing that it was so very true. Home sweet home. For the last few weeks of July, Hermione spent most of her daytime with her parents, and split her nighttime with reading and rest.

"_Wake up Hermione"_ Hermione's mother was trying to wake Hermione up for breakfast.

"Mum, It's too early," Hermione mumbled dreamily.

"Hermione," Hermione's mother spoke firmly, "It is your one of your favorite dishes: sausage, bacon, eggs, baked beans, toast, and your favorite fried bread, drizzled in brown sauce"

"Okay, okay, I'm up!" Hermione said, with a slight smile.

Hermione got ready then walked into the dining room for breakfast. She sat in her chair between her parents. Just as she was about to pick up her fork and eat, a huge white owl flew in through the door. The owl flew straight towards Hermione, and before she could shriek, it dropped a letter on her lap and left. Hermione picked up the letter and inspected it carefully. She noticed that her parents were watching her, with confused looks on their faces. Hermione let out a small laugh and said "What sort of rubbish is this?"

Hermione opened the envelope cautiously, making sure not to tear it. She took out a letter, typed in a neat font, with unrecognizable signatures at the bottom of it. As she read through it, her brown eyes grew large in astonishment. Her jaw fell open as she took all this information in. Hermione's father took notice in this.

"Hermione, dear, what is it?" he asked, in a worried tone.

Hermione was almost too surprised to speak, but she decided to say what she needed to say, no matter how crazy it sounded.

"Mum, Dad, I'm a - I'm a wizard"

"You're a what!?" Her parents said this at the same time, obviously disbelieving.

"Well, technically I'm a witch, but that doesn't really matter, well really it's not that complicated…The teacher er… professor will be coming to explain everything, and then maybe we will 

see if it's true" Hermione looked up at her parents' disbelieving faces "Look, I don't believe it either. Don't think that I've gone round the twist…" Hermione babbled on and on.

"Hermione, may we see that letter?" Hermione's father asked.

Hermione gave him the letter. He read some of it out loud.  
"We are sending one of our most trusted professors, Minerva McGonagall, to explain everything to your parents. She will arrive shortly after you and your parents have read this."

"She'll be here soon, then," Hermione's mother stated, opening her curtains to see if there was anyone walking towards the door.

The Grangers heard a loud _Crack _and saw an elderly looking woman in the room. "Hello, I'm Professor McGonagall, you can call me Minerva," the professor said, shaking hands with Hermione's parents.

"And you must be Hermione," she said, smiling at Hermione. They shook hands, and then Professor McGonagall began to explain. She said that she would be taking Hermione to a place called Diagon Alley, where the two would buy school supplies for Hogwarts.

After Professor McGonagall took Hermione shopping, Hermione read through each and every wizardry and witchcraft book they bought. She found them very intriguing, and was exited to go to Hogwarts. There, she would make new friends that were like her, friends who liked her for who she was, not just what she was on the outside, the studious girl with the bushy hair. She would not be lonely. Maybe she wasn't so different in the wizarding world. She hoped for a whole new era of life there, and that was exactly what she got.

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Disclaimer: JK Rowling created the character Hermione. I also took quotes from Twilight: "hair looked like a haystack" and "wondered if she saw the same things through her eyes as everybody else. Maybe there was a glitch in her brain." by Stephenie Meyer

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